178 million U.S. Internet users viewed online videos in April and many grooved to Vevo.

178 million U.S. Internet users viewed online videos in April and a quarter of them watched Vevo, a new site that showcases music videos, Internet research firm comScore Inc. says. In a separate report, comScore says nearly 90% of web users in Hong Kong are watching online video.

Vevo, which launched in December and is owned by Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment and the Abu Dhabi Media Co., attracted 43.6 million viewers in April. That total includes Vevo’s YouTube channel.

Overall, Internet users watched 30.3 billion videos in April, with Google Inc.’s sites ranking as the top video property with 13.1 billion videos, representing 43.2% of all videos viewed online. YouTube accounted for the vast majority of videos viewed on Google sites. Hulu ranked second with 958 million videos, or 3.2% of all online videos viewed. Microsoft Corp.’s sites ranked third with 644 million (2.1%) followed by Viacom Inc.’s digital properties with 384 million (1.3%) and Yahoo Inc.’s sites with 371 million (1.2%).

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The Top 10 U.S. video viewing properties for April with number of videos viewed and percent of total online videos watched are as follows:

● Google sites, 13,087,462; 43.2%

● Hulu, 958,176; 3.2%

● Microsoft sites, 643,711; 2.1%

● Viacom digital media, 383,776; 1.3%

● Yahoo sites, 370,947; 1.2%

● Vevo, 331,730; 1.1%

● Fox Interactive Media, 320,372; 1.1%

● CBS Interactive, 316,930; 1.0%

● Turner Network, 304,729; 1.0%

● AOL LLC, 237,356; 0.8%

Rankings are based on based on video content sites and exclude video server networks, comScore says. ComScore’s measurement of online video includes both streaming video, which can be viewed immediately without a software download, and progressive download video, which can be viewed immediately as it downloads to a computer.

When it comes to individual video viewers, nearly 178 million web users watched an average of 171 videos during April. Google sites attracted 136.3 million unique viewers during the month (96.0 videos per viewer), followed by Yahoo sites with 49.5 million viewers (7.5 videos per viewer), and Fox Interactive Media with 43.8 million viewers (7.3 videos per viewer). Vevo jumped four positions in the April ranking taking the number four spot with 43.6 million viewers, an average of 7.6 videos per viewer.

The top U.S. online video properties in April with unique viewers and average videos watched per viewer:

● Google sites, 136,279; 96.0

● Yahoo sites, 49,496; 7.5

● Fox Interactive Media, 43,762; 7.3

● Vevo, 43,588; 7.6

● Facebook.com 41,335; 5.6

● Microsoft sites, 40,161; 16.0

● CBS Interactive, 39,268; 8.1

● Hulu, 38,714; 24.7

● Viacom digital media, 38,455; 10.0

● Turner Network, 32,591; 9.4

ComScore says 83.5% of the total U.S. Internet audience viewed online video in April. The duration of the average online video was 4.4 minutes.

One market where Internet video penetration is even deeper than in the U.S. is Hong Kong, comScore said in a separate release. According to the web measurement firm, 88.5% of Internet users in Hong Kong watched video online in March, with visitors averaging more than 10 hours of video viewing per person during the month.

“Online video viewing has become nearly synonymous with Internet usage in Hong Kong,” says Victor Cheng, comScore director for Hong Kong. “Of the six Asia-Pacific markets where comScore currently measures online video, Hong Kong posted the highest penetration of viewing, demonstrating the importance of this platform as a vehicle to reach and engage consumers in this highly advanced digital media market.”

In March, Internet users in Hong Kong age 15 and older watched 447 million videos, with Google sites ranking as the top video property with 234.2 million videos, representing 52.4% of all videos viewed online. YouTube.com accounted for more than 99% of all videos viewed at Google-owned sites. Tudou Sites ranked second with 16.3 million videos viewed, representing 3.6% of the market, followed closely by Youku with 16.2 million videos, also at 3.6%. Rounding out the top five were Facebook.com, with 12.3 million videos and a 2.8% share, and Oriental Press Group with 6.4 million videos and a share of 1.4%.

More than 3.6 million viewers in Hong Kong watched an average of 123 videos per viewer during the month of March.Google sites attracted the largest video audience with 2.4 million unique viewers and 97.5 videos per viewer, followed by Facebook.com with 1.3 million viewers and 9.6 videos per viewer and Youku with 786, 000 viewers and 20.6 videos per viewer.